A Time For Serious Thinking

Dear Friends,

This is a time in which serious thinking is needed.

Spectacle is interesting entertainment, but only for a short while. It is insufficient for responsible governance of international security issues. The recent G7 Summit, which brought allies to acrimony, is an example of failure. The meeting of President Trump and Chairman Kim might prove to have opened a door to success, but only if mature professional diplomacy is exercised going forward. I tried to express this in an opinion article for Sputnik News.

In a Reuters article, John Mecklin of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists has succinctly explained how the process of denuclearization is complex, long, and requires diligent technical and diplomatic attention.

Several years ago, Nobel Peace Laureate and former President of Korea Kim Dae Jung hosted a Nobel Peace Summit in Gwangju, Korea. It was part of a series of such gatherings of Nobel Laureates. As a representative of the Nobel Peace Laureate organization, the International Peace Bureau, I proposed turning the no man’s land of the Demilitarized Zone into an International Peace Park in “Ending War, Pursuing Peace.” At the time, it was a small confidence building measure of a largely symbolic nature, and it resonated with several experts.

The Korean Peninsula remains the only place on earth where the darkest shadows of the Cold War still linger. We call for more active cooperation and efforts of the two Koreas, and also the concerned nations such as the United States, Japan, China and Russia, and international organizations such as the United Nations to pursue inter-Korean reconciliation and cooperation and end the state of war on the Peninsula to bring lasting peace in the region.

As a modest step to enhance such cooperation, we advocate conversion of the DMZ into a de-mined Peace Park, an environmental reserve for the benefit of all people.

Now, such an endeavor could be a dynamic confidence building step on the road to fulfilling the grander aspirations contained in the declaration signed by President Trump and Chairman Kim.

Another confidence building step that would also help the entire world would be the agreement of both North Korea and the US to ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty,a significant step to bring the Treaty into force. For the US to lead in nonproliferation efforts, it must exemplify the principles to be applied universally (See: Practical Proposals for Real Change in North Korea).

Much more sophisticated and deeply well thought out proposals for international peace and security can be found in books authored by GSI colleagues Ambassador James Goodby (with Secretary George Shultz), Ambassador Thomas Graham, Senator Douglas Roche, and Hon. Tarja Cronberg.

Each of these experts have significantly contributed to many successful diplomatic initiatives that have proved that cooperation, compromise, and finding common ground is achievable and far preferable to belligerence, fear, distrust and increased arms racing.

I urge your attention to their serious work on numerous issues relating to nuclear weapons, which demonstrate an appropriate level of discourse necessary to move from spectacle to the pursuit of real security.

In connection with the tensions between the US and Russia, Ambassador Thomas Graham Jr., the Chairman of GSI’s Bipartisan Security Group and member of its Board of Directors, wrote a new book, entitled The Alternate Route.

Graham explores avenues where even today progress can be made between the U.S. and Russia and describes several close calls that nearly brought about the catastrophic use of nuclear weapons. Moreover, he examines the value of the nuclear weapon free zone established by each of the five treaties – Latin America, the South Pacific, Africa, South-East Asia, and Central Asia. He explains in detail why they were negotiated, how they were negotiated, their degree of success, and why they should be expanded.

Similarly, at the United Nations Third Conference of States Parties and Signatories of Treaties that Establish Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zones and Mongolia, Jonathan Granoff delivered a presentation, entitled “Nuclear Weapons Free Zones: The Power of Success to Be Ignored No Longer.” He stressed the importance of the NWFZs and recommended that “it is time that the entire world became a nuclear weapons free zone”(Video).

Hope Not Fear: Building Peace in a Fractured World

Roche presents a sober analysis of the current existential threats facing humanity directing us to practical solutions. He provides, not only intellectually insightful critiques of current dangerous policies, but also uplifting routes to sustainable security. Every political leader and concerned citizen should read this book.

Insecurity Shadows the Iran Deal

In light of the Trump Administration’s decision to withdraw from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) embodied in a Security Council Resolution designed to constrain Iran’s nuclear program, we wish to underscore Dr. Tarja Cronberg, Chair of the Middle Powers Initiative’s book, entitledNuclear Multilateralism and Iran: Inside EU Negotiations. She chronicles the important commitments of European nations in creating the JCPOA. It is a must read to understand the consequences with US actions with respect to its leaders. Dr. Cronberg served as Head of the European Parliament’s Delegation for Relations with Iran and is uniquely qualified to offer astute insights.